International Guitar Night returns to the Bankhead Theater in Livermore, CA, January 23

With a spectacular lineup that includes guitar poet Brian Gore, Martin Taylor, Solorazaf (from Madagascar), and Brazilian Celso Machado, International Guitar Night is sure to have a little something for acoustic fans of all stripes.

The Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center welcomes the return of International Guitar Night to the Bankhead Theater on Wednesday evening, January 23rd featuring the new group of world-renowned guitarists on tour for 2013. A celebration of the remarkable talent and musical diversity in the acoustic guitar world, the event features four acclaimed guitarists who will perform both individually and in collaboration over a single evening of outstanding music. Credited as “one of the most important showcases for the contemporary guitar” by the San Francisco Chronicle, this annual event is a long-standing Bay Area tradition known for its friendly and informal ambiance as well as its exceptional guitar performances.

Founded by guitarist Brian Gore more than 15 years ago in a small eclectic nightclub in Berkeley, California, International Guitar Night (IGN) began as a series of small concerts featuring local acoustic guitar masters. The event grew quickly into larger venues and, in the space of a few years, began to tour across North America. The event attracts premier talent from around the globe and demonstrates the musical diversity of the acoustic guitar, uniting classical, jazz, folk, and contemporary styles. Each year Gore invites three guitarists to join him on tour and IGN’s success is attributed in part to his ability to foster a spirit of collaboration rather than competition between these guitar virtuosos. The participants, who typically tour solo and often hail from different musical genres, appreciate the camaraderie they find on the IGN tour which was described by one guitarist as a wonderful opportunity for a cultural exchange between peers.

The evening opens with individual recital performances by each guitarist, followed by combinations of players and ends in a finale that brings all four together. This intimate and variable format generates an excitement and synergy between players and exposes audiences to the full breadth of acoustic guitar styles and techniques in a single night. All three of Gore’s guests for International Guitar Night 2013 have received particular acclaim for their creative and sometimes unusual collaborations with artists of different genres, making them the ideal performers for such an event.

Brian Gore has been acclaimed as a guitar poet, one of the most interesting and influential guitar stylists today with a unique blend of classical and percussive techniques and a strikingly beautiful tone. Martin Taylor from Scotland is known for the smooth chord-melody style he brings to his solo jazz guitar, as well as his focus on melody both in performance and composition. Self-taught guitarist Solorazaf from Madagascar uses his voice as a musical instrument with rhythmic guitar and foot percussion to create a unique texture of sound with world music influences. Celso Machado puts his own personal stamp on Brazil’s seductively rhythmic and melodic music, using his classical guitar background and remarkable ability to make music from everything around him.